Set The World On Fire
by PrincessTriSarahTops
Summary: Inspired by Fun's "We Are Young". During a particularly violent werewolf transformation Remus accidentally attacks his would be girlfriend,Gwendolyn Blackwood. When rumors start circulating around Hogwarts, Lily Evans and Severus Snape confront the girl about her scars one afternoon in the Three Broomsticks. Mauraders Era/One-shot/Song Fic
Three Hogwarts students sat at the bar of the nearly full _Three Broomsticks_ pub. It sounded like the perfect set up for a joke, except none of them were laughing. On the stool furthest away from the exit sat a young wizard. His distinctive hook nose was easily visible through his curtain of inky black hair. It wasn't difficult to pick Severus Snape out of a crowd. He sipped from his Butterbeer while keeping a reproachful eye on the door.

One of his companions was Lily Evans, easily identified from a distance by her sharp green eyes and brilliant red hair. The prefect badge pinned to the front of her robes didn't exactly hurt either. Nestled between the old friends was a Ravenclaw girl from the same year in school, Gwendolyn Blackwood. Up until recently Gwendolyn had maintained an exclusive friendship with Hogwarts' infamous Marauders. But over the course of the last few weeks Lily had noticed her schoolmate slowly become withdrawn, reserved and generally not quite herself. When rumors began circulating that the scars on her face were from the Marauders themselves, Lily knew she had to take action and help the girl if necessary.

"You are safe here." She said seriously before placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "No one is going to hurt you here, right, Sev?"

"Not as long as I hurt them first." He replied dryly. He sipped from his mug again leaving Gwendolyn unsure if her was serious or not.

"That's very kind of you Lily, really." Gwendolyn said quietly. She brushed away a lock of her hair that had been hiding the newest pink scar, which ran from the right side of her forehead, through the bridge of her nose, to the edge of her left cheek. "But as I've already told Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick, the Mauraders and I, we were all playing with magic we shouldn't have been. I acted like an over zealous Ravenclaw, and paid the price for it. That's all."

"I know exactly what you told the professors." Lily frowned. "But even most accidental magic can be healed. You would have had to have been messing around with some darker magic to get deep lasting scars like that. But if someone else put a hex or a curse on you…"

"No one's gone and cursed me, Evans!" Gwendolyn raised her voice. At first she thought it might be nice becoming friends with Lily. She could be compassionate and was incredibly smart, but it was slowly being made clear that her new friend was just as meddlesome as the Marauders. She just wished everyone would let her forget that night in the Shrieking Shack. "Look I'm not some harmless house elf or something. I'm not defenseless and I'm not being abused. My mates and I get into trouble and we get ourselves out of it. It's just what we do."

Across the pub, Remus Lupin couldn't quite make out the conversation between Evans, Snape and Gwendolyn, but he could guess what they were talking about. He was the one that had given Gwen the hideous mark on her otherwise perfect face. He sank lower into his chair as he thought of the night his other self had mercilessly attacked her. He was forced to watch from inside his own body in excruciating pain. It had happened months ago, and they had both been trying to forget it, but 'sorry' just didn't seem to hold enough weight to convey his true remorse about the situation.

Already feeling worse than he had even imagined possible, the last thing he wanted was Prefect Lily Evans and Snivillus Snape digging around. He took a large gulp from his drink hoping that Gwen's commitment to his secret would shine through, because it was taking all his might not to confess the truth to the entire pub. If only in the hopes that everyone involved could for once put some of the past behind them. What if she _did_ tell them the truth? How could he convince an entire pub, and later the whole school, that he _was not_ a werewolf?

Perhaps sensing their friend's inner turmoil, as that seemed to be their combined superpower, the remaining three-quarters of the Marauders entered the _Three Broomsticks_ to make matters worse. James Potter, the unofficial leader of their outfit, was the first to swagger in. He was laughing loudly about something that had happened outside. Sirius Black followed closely behind, chuckling himself. Trailing a few seconds after the pair was a sopping wet Peter Pettigrew. Even without witnessing the event Remus could safely assume that James and Sirius were the cause of Peter's now wet state of being. Not wanting to draw too much attention, Remus tried to inconspicuously wave his friends over to their usual table by the fireplace. Naturally, Sirius wouldn't be foiled by such subtlety. The pub still had plenty of scenery for he and James to chew up.

"Oy, Remus, hang on!" He bellowed from his position by the door. "You know Jame has to chat up Evans for a few minutes before he can even think about drinking!" Remus could feel the eyes on him as he buried his face in his hands. Why on earth was he friends with those prats?

"I think it would be best if you left." Lily growled getting to her feet.

"And why would we do that?" Jame questioned, folding his arms over his chest. "Blackwood?" He spotted his friend from just over his crush's shoulder. "What are you and Evans having a chat about?"

"Nothing." Gwendolyn insisted, now getting off her bar stool. "Lily and Severus were concerned about the scars on my face. They're worried that I let you boy's take advantage of me…"

"We're the ones being taking advantage of!" Sirius scoffed.

"I explained that we were messing around with magic and that is how I got my scars. No one is being taking advantage of, no one is getting abused."

"Course not!" James nodded. He quickly got on board with the lie. "Evans, I know you don't trust Sir and me, so ask Peter. He never lies! Right, Pete?" He threw and arm around peter and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"R-Right! It's true, all of it!" Peter gave his most convincing lie.

"Excellent, this round's on me!" Gwendolyn smiled. "Barkeep, seven Butterbeers!" She ordered before slapping a handful of coins down on the bar. After ensuring Lily and Severus were served their Butterbeers, Gwen led the three Marauders over to Remus' table.

"Had you worried for a minute didn't I Moony?" She smirked, before leaning down and planting a kiss on his forehead. "Secret's safer with me than any of these jokers."

"We resent that!" James barked. He swung his Butterbeer mug dramatically in the air.

"I can't imagine why." She sat on Remus' lap; ignoring the shade of red his cheeks were turning. "I'm pretty sure that's the first time Peter's ever lied in his life, You'd sell us all out for a chance to snog with Lily, and Sir…well Sirius is probably the most trustworthy of you lot. But you know what?" She hopped to her feet and raised her own perspiring mug "We are still young, with plenty of time to be reckless and untrustworthy. So as long as people still want to watch the world burn…"

"Let's set the world on fire!" All four Marauders cheered at once. Five mugs clanged together and Butterbeer showered the table.


End file.
